Thrace
Thrace is a region that takes us back all the Way back to the Bronze Age. According to Homer, when Odysseus passed through the region of Thrace. He found a local wine that was offered by Maron, the priest of Apollo who lived there. This wine was described as “flaming honey sweet wine.” The Aegean Sea softens the winter cold and the summer brings a local wind that refreshes the vines. As for the soil, it is a deep red color that reveals the presence of argil and prepares for the production of wines with rich taste.
Yet wine in Thrace has a colorful past. Throughout the classical and into the byzantine times, wine produced in this area was famous, especially the town of Maronia, southern Rodopi. These places could demand high export prices. After all wine from Maronia was supposed to be the wine that Odysseus used to fool Polyphemus, the most famous Cyclopse by getting him so drunk so that Odysseus could escape. Mythology aside, there is rich archeological evidence that shows a thriving wine industry in Thrace and perhaps the first wines to become famous in ancient Greece.